Segment Reporting (Details Textual) (USD $)	6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2011	Dec. 31, 2010
Segment Reporting (Additional) (Textuals) [Abstract]
Private Education Loans (net of allowance for losses of $2,042,603 and $2,021,580, respectively)	$ 35,753,327,000	$ 35,655,724,000
Total assets	153,094,000,000	158,523,000,000
Segment Reporting (Textuals) [Abstract]
FFELP Loans, net	142,634,378,000	148,649,400,000
Net unrealized gain or loss at time of maturity except specific derivative contracts	0
Consumer Lending [Member]
Segment Reporting (Additional) (Textuals) [Abstract]
Private Education Loans (net of allowance for losses of $2,042,603 and $2,021,580, respectively)	35,753,000,000	35,656,000,000
Total assets	43,053,000,000	43,032,000,000
Business Services [Member]
Segment Reporting (Additional) (Textuals) [Abstract]
Total assets	799,000,000	930,000,000
Other Segment [Member]
Segment Reporting (Additional) (Textuals) [Abstract]
Total assets	$ 3,400,000,000	$ 2,800,000,000